Page 36 of Highland Hero
“Ye are grimacing like ye took a bite of something gone bad.”
The only thing that had gone bad was her thinking. Maybe she was the one whose brain had been affected by the chilling storm. Plus, she’d pinched herself a bit harder than she’d intended.
“Actually, the food is quite good.” She took a spoonful of porridge. “The cinnamon adds wonderful flavor.”
“The cream and butter probably help, too.”
She gave him a covert glance. Was he going to start talking about the food again? Perhaps a change of subject was in order.
“It is not snowing this morning. Do you think we can leave?”
Rory shook his head. “With as low as the clouds are, I doona want to take a chance on getting caught in another snowstorm. We’ll have to cross the Monadhliath mountain range to reach the pass to Blair Castle.”
Juliana was about to take a sip of tea, but she put the cup down. “We have to climb mountains?”
“We can stay to the foothills, but even they will be treacherous right now.”
“Do we have to go to Blair Castle? Is there no other way we can go?”
“The only other way is to cross over the loch and go to Grant Castle.” A corner of his mouth quirked up. “Which is exactly where ye hoped Cameron went.”
Is he making fun of my plan?She bristled. “It was a good idea.”
“I am nae arguing the point, but…” He paused to take a swallow of his coffee. “Even if we went there, we’d still have to get through Cameron country to get home.”
“Going back the way we came is not an option, I suppose?”
Rory lifted an eyebrow. “Only if ye want to make sure ye run into Neal.”
She shuddered. “I do not want to ever lay eyes on that man again.”
“I wouldna mind doing the same.”
Juliana remembered something his sister had said about some girl. Was it Morag? “Fiona mentioned that the two of you had a falling-out?”
“I guess ye could put it like that. The man took advantage of a MacFarlane lass and then wouldna own up to it.”
MacFarlane. Not MacDonnell. She should have remembered that. So she was still nowhere closer to discovering who the mysterious cousin was. Or where she was. It was not something she could ask Rory, since he didn’t even know that she knew.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the stomping of boots in the hall. A moment later, the laird came in.
“’Tis starting to snow again.”
She bit back a groan. “Maybe it will not last long?”
“I canna say, but the glass is falling.”
“What does that mean?”
“’Tis a barometer. Every ship has one, and every castle close to a loch has a sailing vessel or two, so ’tis wise to keep a storm glass on hand,” Rory replied. “What it means is we are in for more stormy weather.”
“We do not wish to impose on you for long,” Juliana replied. “If the storm ends today, can we be on our way tomorrow?”
The men exchanged looks, and the laird shook his head.
“We’ve already had snow here, and this storm is one of the strongest I’ve seen this early in the year. Trekking through the hills will be hard, if nae impossible. Drumochter Pass will be closed for certain. Ye’ll be lucky if ye can leave sometime after Yule.”
“Yule? But…” She paused. “You are saying we may not be able to leave until the end of the month?”
